I went to Oswego to go swimming one last time, and just happened upon a tugboat getting ready to pull a Great Lakes barge out of the harbor, and then push it to Rochester, NY. It was partly full of powdered cement after having emptied some at Oswego, and was from Canada. Here’s the tugboat, Evans McNeil, blowing its horn:

And here it is starting to pull the barge. That tugboat has a diesel engine the size of a train engine!

It continues to pull it, getting it turned into a position so it can start pushing it:

And now it’s pushing it out from the harbor into Lake Ontario:

And about to enter the lake:

On its way to Rochester:

This reminds me of the book “The Little Engine That Could.” This is the little tug that could.

We went to Charlotte to see the lighthouse, and ended up (re)discovering a world of things at Charlotte, including the Hojack Swing Bridge, which is located on the Genesee River just south of Lake Ontario.

I’m standing on the old railroad bed:

I was wondering what was in the control booth:

So I searched online and saw a report, which, when you open the pdf file, shows what is inside the control booth: Hojack Swing Bridge

According to this report, this bridge was built by the King Bridge Company in Ohio in 1905:

It was originally steam powered, and converted to diesel in the 1950’s.

Here’s looking at the old rail bed across the river, through the bridge, on the east side:

I’ve never really been a big fan of August. Too many family members have died in August. And the minute it hits, my eyes start itching, the air feels yucky, and the worst part is, I didn’t know how cold it was to swim in the evening in August. I thought September would be the month I wouldn’t be able to swim anymore, who knew August was it? Unless it really warms up. So now I have to find another form of exercise. But I love swimming so much – wah! And swimming in the pool at the Y is just *not* going to be the same. Which reminds me, I need to go to Dicks and get a swim cap and goggles so the chlorine doesn’t kill my eyes and hair.

Anyway, we went up to Sylvan Beach for the car show again, and it is getting boring because we’re seeing the same cars every week, so we’ll give it a rest this week, unless Oneida Lake is still very warm and I need to go swimming there.

This is a sweet Ford Fairlane that we haven’t seen before.

Don’t you love the simplicity and largeness of the interior, and that bench seat, good for smooching at the drive-in.

Love the T-Bird insignia on the sweet, light blue T-Bird I showed you last week.

Afterwards, we went looking for the old bathhouse that was converted into something that we had to figure out, and we finally found it!

The bathhouse was cut in two and made into the Laff House. So of course we had to take the ride, and laughed our butts off because it was so hokey. But as a kid, I’m sure it’s scary as all get out. Or not.

I don’t care, I love the amusement park:
It reminds me of Suburban Park in Manlius, where my Mom used to take us every summer until it was closed.

We saw the tugboat Urger which I guess is an educational tugboat.

I wonder what those horns sound like. Nobody was around to “educate” us! But I guess it used to be a steam-powered tug in it’s day.

The tug was sitting in the canal:

Saw a big, puffy cloud:

And blazing, hot, sunset:

Saturday evening we tried to go swimming and froze our buns off – well not froze, but I was shivering even though I was moving. So Sunday we went to the Polish Festival, got sauerkraut and potato pierogies (yummy!), and ate them at the Inner Harbor,

where we saw a dredge:

And behind where we sat to eat are these things in the cement:
An apple, LaFayette, where I grew up, is known as apple country

The Weighlock Building in downtown Syracuse.

Canal Boat

Salt Evaporation Vats; Syracuse was known as “The Salt City.”

One of the few buildings for boat repair still stands here:

I took a much needed nap on my new sleeping bag (nice and comfy) and when I woke up, the sky looked like this:

And this week, I have to get the camera batteries all charged up, cuz we’re going someplace I’ve never been to before!! I’m so excited!

I had to work late for OHA’s Evening at the Museum, and you know I can’t just sit there without taking pics:

We snorkeled/swam across this river to an old sunken barge and got some big, old square nails. The sky was gorgeous the whole time, but until I get a water camera, I can’t capture the cool stuff I see while in the water! This was after we got back:

Queen Anne’s Lace is blossoming beautifully now:

Along with the Mullein:

And we went snorkeling/swimming every night, if not out of town, then at our favorite local place:

Friday night we went snorkeling (swimming for me, I still haven’t mastered the snorkel yet) and after we were done my friend got talking to a fisherman, so I went for a walk on the railroad tracks looking for date nails. I walked on one tie and it sunk down real low. I put it in the back of my head to tell my friend about it, and completely forgot about it.

Notice the spike sticking up too far on the left.

Sunday night we were going to go to a far away place to snorkel and we were too exhausted, so we went to the same place we went to on Friday night. And that’s when my friend saw why the railroad tie sunk so low.

Yowsa! This rail is completely broken!

Broken all of the way through!

A derailment waiting to happen. So my friend called the dispatcher to report the problem and to recommend absolutely no trains run over this track until it is fixed.

See about six feet of spikes on the right sticking up too far?

Hopefully we’ve saved a train from possible derailment, and one of our favorite snorkeling spots will stay the same. Except what’s with the pig that left their garbage in the left of this photo?

Saturday night we went to the Festival of Sail at the Port of Oswego. The sky was overcast so there weren’t very many people there, but I enjoyed it – it was the perfect temperature!

The Lynx was sitting beyond the break wall for a while.

Here’s the Pride of Baltimore II:

And the Tallship Unicorn:

The Syracuse of Syracuse, NY:

And the LT-5 Tug Major Elisha K. Henson:

A derrick on land:

The Lynx heading back, motoring because there wasn’t much wind. I was disappointed because I wanted to see the sails!

We had sweet potato fries – these seem to be becoming more popular! Then we went swimming in Lake Ontario – well, I hung my feet in the lake, because the lake kind of grosses me out – while others went swimming.

And then we went to Rudy’s Lakeside Drive-In – I was so hungry I forgot to take pics! But we sat next to Lake Ontario eating our fish sandwich, mmmm.

We then walked around Oswego, but it was too dark to take any more photos, but we’ll be going back!